


Ten Years Later

by nadiacreek



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-08-02 08:32:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16301699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nadiacreek/pseuds/nadiacreek
Summary: Right after the Supreme Court's ruling on same sex marriage in 2015, best friends Kurt and Blaine make a pact that if they aren't seeing anyone by the time they turn 30, they'll get married. 30 comes and it's time to own up to the deal and secret crushes. (This was the prompt for the fic exchange.)





	Ten Years Later

**Author's Note:**

> I know this is really really late, and I'm sorry! I hope you like it! Many thanks to redheadgleek and apropensityforcharm for beta reading the fic draft.

 

**June 26, 2015**

The timing could not have been more perfect. The Supreme Court made gay marriage the law of the entire United States, and just three days later, New York City burst into the celebration of a lifetime at its annual Pride parade. The whole world was made of rainbows and joy. At least, that’s how it felt to a very tipsy Blaine Anderson. 

“I wish I could get married right now!” Blaine tripped and stumbled over a discarded trans-flag drink koozie on the sidewalk.

“Whoa, steady there!” Kurt grabbed his best friend’s arm to keep him on his feet. He was so strong, Blaine thought happily. Someone he could always count on to be there when he needed a helping hand.

“I’m fine, I’m just caught up in all the …” Blaine gestured grandly in the air, trying and failing to capture all of Pride and Ober … Orberga … Oberlin … O-burger-field … whatever it was called … in a single word. No matter. Kurt always understood, even when Blaine couldn’t find the right way to say what he was thinking. 

“I know, I know,” Blaine continued on as he walked down the street, his arm still linked with Kurt’s. “I’m single and everything, but wouldn’t it be  _ amazing _ to be able to get married right now, at this historic moment in history, and be part of  _ history _ and so  _ historic _ ?”

Blaine very nearly walked past their apartment building without noticing, but Kurt guided him toward the front steps. Thank goodness for Kurt,  _ again _ . He was the best. Look at him pulling the key out of his pocket like a responsible, non-drunk individual who knew how to do things and everything!

“Yes, I agree,” Kurt said wryly. “It would be very historic and historic. Unfortunately, neither of us has anyone to marry right now. And we’re way too young, anyway.”

That was a good point. Kurt had such good points. He always knew what was what. He was so  _ smart _ ! Why hadn’t Blaine noticed before how smart and wise Kurt was? There weren’t many guys like that out there, as Blaine was starting to become painfully aware of.

“What if I never find anyone, Kurt? What if I’m alone and single forever?” 

“I’m sure that won’t happen. I’m sure Mr. Right is out there somewhere, just waiting for you. Maybe even right around the corner.”

Giggling, Blaine leaned back out the door of the building and tried to peer around the corner. “Nope. Nobody there.”

Kurt gave him a good-natured shove on the shoulders. “Let’s get you upstairs, crazy boy.”

And funny, too! Kurt was so funny!

Inside the apartment, Blaine plopped down on the couch while Kurt got them both glasses of ice water to recover from the beer and the heat. Within a few minutes, they were both feeling much more comfortable. Away from the excitement of the citywide party, though, Blaine’s thoughts started to turn gloomy again.

“I wish I had your confidence, though,” he said with a sigh.

“About what?” Kurt asked.

“About getting married,” Blaine explained. “I don’t know if I’ll ever find the right guy. It all seems so … hopeless. It’s great that I legally can get married. But that’s worthless if nobody wants to marry me.”

“Still sad about Aiden?” Kurt asked. 

Blaine fumbled for a way to express himself clearly. It was hard when his ideas didn’t even seem quite clear in his head. Aiden had dumped him three months ago. Blaine felt like he was sadder about it than he should be. Three months was enough time to get over someone, wasn’t it? They hadn’t even dated all that long. Aiden seemed to stand for something in Blaine’s mind. Disappointment? He tried it out in words.

“It’s not just him.” Blaine sighed. “I thought college would be a whole new world, you know? Out of Lima, into the huge dating pool of New York City where everyone’s out and proud. And it is. It’s completely different. But the guys just … none of them are right for me. Why can’t I click with someone? Why is it so hard?”

“It’s only been a couple of years. Give it time.” Kurt took another sip of his ice water.

“Would  _ you _ marry me, Kurt?”

Blaine’s words sent the water flying the wrong way down Kurt’s throat. He coughed and sputtered, trying to recover himself. Meanwhile, Blaine blinked in surprise. He hadn’t meant to say that. He didn’t know where the question had come from. His face flushed and the cloud in his brain seemed to start spinning, making him more disoriented even as the effects of the alcohol were starting to fall away.

“I don’t mean like right now,” Blaine said quickly. Even though he had meant it. Did mean it. Marrying Kurt suddenly seemed like the best idea he’d ever come up with. He was an incredible guy. They’d been best friends for half a decade. Their personalities balanced each other. They had fun together. They knew they could rely on each other. It would be perfect! But Blaine wasn’t drunk enough to be unaware that his proposal was wildly inappropriate.

“Not today, in this historic and historic moment?” Kurt teased.

Blaine swatted his shoulder playfully. It could be a joke. That would let him save face.

“Tell you what, my inebriated friend,” Kurt said, a smile on his face. “When you turn thirty, if we’re both still single, let’s get married then.”

“A marriage pact? Just like in the movies?”

“Just like in the movies.”

“I’m in!” It was the easiest promise Blaine had ever made.

“I’m sure we’ll both be happily married long before then,” Kurt said.

“Best man at each other’s weddings, just like we’ve always said,” Blaine agreed. 

They sat in silence for a minute, neither of them quite sure things were properly wrapped up.

“Hey, Kurt?” Blaine asked hesitantly. “Can we have a sleepover tonight? Like when we were kids?”

Kurt looked across the room at the twin doors, one leading to Blaine’s bedroom, the other to his own. “You mean sleep in the same room?”

Blaine nodded. “It just feels like not the kind of night to go to bed alone.”

“Sure, why not? For old time’s sake.”

They ended up in Blaine’s bedroom, curled together on his double bed too small for two grown men but nearly too big for the tiny shoebox apartment room. Blaine’s heart pounded in his chest. He yearned to make a move, but he couldn’t think how.

“Goodnight, Blaine.”

“Goodnight…”

Kurt fell asleep quickly, his arm tossed across Blaine’s waist, trusting, unconscious of the turmoil in his best friend’s heart. There was nothing Blaine could do. It was clear Kurt didn’t feel the same way Blaine was just beginning to realize he did. He would just have to snuff it out. They were friends, nothing more. The marriage pact wasn’t real, it was just a joke between friends. He put it out of his mind. Kurt was right. There was some amazing guy out there waiting for him, and Blaine was sure to find him in no time.

  
\--------------------------------------

 

**June 2025**

Blaine shuts his apartment door softly behind the final birthday party stragglers. Thirty years old is starting to seem less unbelievable now. The party was pleasant and fun, but nothing like the ragers of his college years. Lots of his friends from college, and even from high school glee club, had attended -- people he’s now known for ten years or more. When had he become old enough to have friends from more than ten years ago?

He turns back to face the living room and is startled to find Kurt there, three mostly-empty cups gripped in one hand by the rims and a handful of crumpled paper napkins in the other.

“I thought everyone had left,” Blaine says.

Kurt smiles his enigmatic smile and walks to the kitchen.

Blaine grabs more left-behind cups and follows him. “You don’t have to help clean up. I can handle it. And the cleaning lady is coming tomorrow. Perks of being a grown-up.”

Kurt tosses the napkins into the trash, sets the glasses carefully beside the sink, and looks up at Blaine. “Remember when we used to live together? I miss that.”

Blaine smiles. He remembered his years as Kurt’s roommate fondly. Real grown-up jobs had brought more money, and more money had bought separate, much nicer apartments. He didn’t miss being squished into a shoebox bedroom with no privacy at all. But he did miss having his best friend around every morning and evening, and spending the weekends exploring the city together. They still saw each other all the time, but it wasn’t the same. 

“What’s gotten into you tonight?” Blaine asks. “Why all the nostalgia? You’re not the one turning thirty.”

“I had an epiphany the other day.” Kurt reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small, black, velvet-covered box. He turns it in his hands, fidgeting a little. 

Knowing Kurt, the box probably contains a meaningful, expensive, and bizarre piece of jewelry. Some kind of brooch or cuff links that represents their friendship or Blaine’s career or something. Blaine smiles a little, but etiquette requires him to protest. “Kurt! You shouldn't have! I said no gifts, it was right on the invitation.”

“Oh, this isn’t a gift.”

“Showing off a new toy of your own, then?” Blaine asks, slightly puzzled. Kurt never missed a chance to show off his style. Why wouldn’t he have worn this new piece to the party instead of saving it in a box for only Blaine to see?

Kurt shakes his head and sets the box down on the counter, which only increases Blaine’s puzzlement.

“Thirty feels a long way from twenty, doesn’t it?” Kurt muses.

That’s the source of Blaine’s discomfort with this monumental birthday, of course. Ten years ago he’d had so many things planned for “ten years from now.” Some of those he’s accomplished -- a successful acting career, a fabulous New York City apartment, the ability to travel the world. But others still seem like far away goals. Getting married and starting a family, for one. And more nebulous, something he would never have been able to put into words at twenty: he’s still missing a sense of belonging in his own life, a sense of comfort in his own skin. He puts on a good front, but he feels lost and lonely most of the time. None of his romantic relationships have ever panned out. He’s as single as he was ten years ago. His apartment feels more trendy than homey, even though it’s all decorated in good taste as opposed to the thrift store finds of his youth. He still feels unsettled, as if the ground could shift beneath him at any moment and knock him off his feet.

Blaine takes a stab at voicing this in a way that’s not too melancholy. “I guess when I was twenty, I thought people should have their lives sorted out by thirty. But now that I’m here at thirty, I see that most people don’t. I certainly don’t. But that’s okay? Because there’s still plenty of time ahead of me?” He feels himself getting far more tentative as he moves along this statement-turned-question.

“That’s where I was until last week,” Kurt says. 

Blaine breathes a sigh of relief that he hasn’t derailed the conversation entirely. Kurt’s mind works in mysterious ways, and especially so tonight. “So, what was your epiphany last week?”

Kurt has this way of looking at Blaine that completely traps him. There’s no chance of looking away. He’s intense and sincere and Blaine’s heart starts to pound as he realizes that something momentous is coming.

“I realized,” Kurt says slowly, “That it’s not a question of having time left to figure things out or not. It’s a question of how you want your life to be while you’re living it. Because we’re living it right now. This, right here, is life. Every moment of it. Not preparation for life, not planning and getting ready for it. It’s here. This is it. When we were twenty, that was life, and now at thirty, this is life, and when we’re forty or fifty or eighty, that’s life too.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“Do you remember the promise we made to each other ten years ago? On gay marriage day?”

Of course Blaine remembers. He’d been hoping that Kurt didn’t, though. He blushes and then tries to laugh it off. “We didn’t have the slightest idea what thirty would feel like, back then. Most gay guys our age aren’t married. There’s still plenty of time to find someone ...” He trails off.

Before Blaine realizes what’s happening, Kurt picks up the jewelry box again and snaps it open. Inside, a gold ring glints at Blaine, simple and unadorned. A wedding ring. 

Blaine blinks his eyes in disbelief. “Are you telling me you’re in love with me?” he gasps.

For the first time, Kurt’s gaze wavers. His voice, though, is steady. “I’m telling you I want to spend my life with you. If that’s also what you want. Like we agreed on, ten years ago.”

So it’s not what he hoped. Blaine stifles a sigh. “You’re saying you’re willing to settle for me.”

“No!” Kurt says it so quickly and so emphatically that Blaine can’t doubt he’s telling the truth. “No, that’s not it at all. What I feel for you … that’s not settling.”

Blaine waits for more, but it’s not forthcoming. Does Kurt love him or not? Confusion reels around him in the too-long silence until it makes a sudden jolt into claustrophobia. He fights down his urge to flee -- this is, after all, his own apartment -- and finds some words instead. 

“I don’t understand what you mean. And I don’t know why you’re asking me to marry you when we’re not even dating. And I don’t know why we’re having this conversation in a kitchen full of dirty dishes.”

Kurt at least looks sympathetic to Blaine’s plight. “The living room, maybe?”

They both turn to go, Blaine mumbling under his breath, “I don’t think it’s going to make any more sense out there.”

They settle awkwardly on the couch, half-facing each other with a distance between them that makes it impossible to touch. Blaine tucks one foot under himself, because it’s something like curling up into a fetal position.

“I had a crush on you once, you know,” Kurt says. Blaine looks up at him, startled, and sees a wistful half-smile on his best friend’s face.

“No, I didn’t know! When?”

“You didn’t?” Kurt’s eyes widen. “I was sure you knew! Right when we met. Adorable prep school boy grabs my hand and then sings a sexy love song to me in front of a room full of people. How could I not be swept off my feet? It was pretty much unavoidable, don’t you think? Of course I fell for you!” Kurt’s smile gets brighter with the memory. His eyes are shining, his whole body lifted and lightened as he relives the romantic moment.

Blaine’s mouth is gaping open by this point. “I truly had no idea, I swear. If I had ...” He trails off. What would he have done back then, if he’d known? Kurt was so young and awkward. Adorable and sweet and an excellent friend, but Blaine hadn’t thought of him as boyfriend material at the time. Could he have made that shift if he’d tried?

“I was too shy to say anything,” Kurt continued, “and pretty soon it became clear that you had no interest in me. At least, not in that way. Not in the way you liked Jeremiah and --”

“Oh god,  _ please  _ don’t remind me of all my high school misadventures,” Blaine laughs sadly. “But I’m sorry I didn’t notice. If you’d told me … I don’t know, maybe I’d have started thinking of you differently sooner. But you were so young back then!”

“I’m older than you!”

“I know, but you  _ looked  _ young.”

“Late bloomer …” Kurt waves his hand in a vague self-deprecating gesture. Then he pauses and looks up at Blaine. “Wait a minute. What do you mean, ‘sooner’?”

“Uh …” A blush rises on Blaine’s cheeks. “I guess if you’re being honest, I should, too. I had a crush on you at one point. But it was much later than that.”

“After the magical puberty fairy arrived?”

“Something like that. It actually took me a really long time to realize it. And a little alcohol. But once I did …” Blaine took a deep breath and gathered his courage. “It never really went away.”

Kurt blinks, processing this information. “You still have a crush on me? And you’ve had it for … how long?”

“Um.” Blaine bites his lip and looks up at the ceiling. That wedding ring tucked into its little box, Kurt has no idea how much he craves it. Craves him. He’s been carrying this secret for so long and now the stakes have become unimaginably high. But there’s no going back. He has to make this leap of faith. His heart is pounding. He tiptoes right up to the edge of revealing his feelings. His voice squeaks as he answers Kurt’s direct question and nothing else. “About ten years?”

“Ten years! Blaine Devon Anderson!”

It all comes pouring out now. “When I asked you to marry me, out of the blue, ten years ago. That was the moment I realized I loved you. And you played it off as a joke, and put me off on that ‘if we’re still single in ten years’ thing. I was certain you weren’t interested, or I would have said something. I let it be a joke so you wouldn’t reject me a second time. I thought my feelings would fade away, but they never did. Every time I look at you, I love you more. You’re just … I … I don’t know … I’m sorry. I should have told you earlier. I’m sorry. And now you’re here asking me to marry you to follow through on that stupid, joking agreement we made when we were kids, and I just …” Blaine trails off into a frustrated groan.

Kurt pauses for a moment, taking this in, and then reaches the conclusion Blaine couldn’t bear to voice. “You’re in love with me, and you don’t know if you can handle being more all-in on this than I am.”

Blaine points a finger at him. “That. Thank you. I’m sorry.”

Kurt moves a little closer to Blaine on the couch. He reaches out and takes Blaine’s extended hand in both of his. Blaine takes in a shaky breath at the contact.

“Okay,” Kurt says firmly, “first of all, stop apologizing. You didn’t do anything wrong. I should have realized there was something more going on anyway. And second of all, you’re not more all-in than me.”

“I’m not?” Blaine whispers. He’s kind of lost in the feeling of Kurt’s hands around his. Despite standing on the brink, it makes him feel steady.

Kurt shakes his head fondly. “That’s what I’ve been trying to say. All these years, I’ve been looking for another guy to come along and sweep me off my feet. But nobody ever has, and that’s because you already did, and nobody can ever compare to you. I finally realized that love isn’t being swept off your feet. Love is what comes  _ after  _ that. It’s trust and friendship and support and wanting to spend your whole life with that person. And that’s what I feel for you. I’ve always felt it. It just took me way too long to realize that this feeling is love. That was my epiphany last week. That I love you.  And I guess I always have.”

“Yes.”

Kurt blinks. “What?”

“Yes, I’ll marry you,” Blaine says, eyes glistening with unshed tears of joy.

“Really?” Kurt gapes in surprise. “Not, like, we should date for a while first and figure things out? The ring was a dramatic gesture and I am not at all trying to take it back, but when I played through all this in my head I was expecting, best case scenario, you would agree to try dating--”

Blaine laughs in a way that’s almost a sob. “I already waited ten years.”

“That’s a fair point,” Kurt says. 

They stare at each other for a moment, neither one quite sure what to do.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” Kurt says.

“Oh, thank god!” Blaine leans forward as Kurt does, and their lips practically crash together with the years of held-back desires and urges. Blaine’s heart leaps in his chest, his hands pulling Kurt towards him like there’s no tomorrow. 

“ _ Oh my god _ ,” Kurt moans. “Why did we wait so long for this?”

Blaine strokes his hair gently. “I don’t know, my love. But it was worth the wait.”

\-----------------------------

  
  
  


Together with their families,

Kurt Elizabeth Hummel

and

Blaine Devon Anderson

request the pleasure of your company

at their marriage

Saturday, the second of August

at six o’clock in the evening

Reception to follow

  
  
  
  



End file.
